


It All Dies With Me

by xxxbookaholic



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Bad Ending, Bittersweet, Canon Compliant, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff and Angst, Long Shot, Spoilers, t/w for nooses blood etc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-14 16:14:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28923408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxxbookaholic/pseuds/xxxbookaholic
Summary: Interest piqued, Kaede picked the book up and flipped to the front, running her finger under the kanji experimentally. Romeo and Juliet. Despite her best efforts, she snorted at the implications, rolling her eyes. Of course the only romance book Monokuma put out would be one that ended in tragedy.Jokes on you, killer bear, she thought, smiling smugly. She won’t be like them. She'll succeed, and get all of them out of there. Just you wait.And then maybe, just maybe, she and Rantaro would get their happy ever after, too.orkaede and rantaro find love in the worst place imaginable
Relationships: Akamatsu Kaede & Saihara Shuichi, Akamatsu Kaede/Amami Rantaro
Comments: 1
Kudos: 10





	It All Dies With Me

When Kaede was young, she inherited a collection of romance books from her mom. They spoke of dreamy men, heels clicking against glass floors, happy endings, and first kisses that taste like strawberries. It didn’t take long for her to be swept off her feet by every last one of them, the joyful endings having affected her heart like a weed.

Every night before curfew, her mom would tuck her in, sit at the end of her bed and talk in a hushed voice about the story she had read most recently. They needed something to talk about and if sparkly engagement rings were the only thing Mom could find, Kaede would take it.

She began to thoroughly believe happy endings were indefinite. Someday she would fall in love with someone like a heart aching heroine and would end up with them, no doubt in her mind. Nothing could get in her way. Not her addiction to the piano that so many people seemed to hate, not her tendency to skip meals, not her absent mind.

Everything would turn out well in the end, because that was the way it was supposed to be.

Now, looking back on that, Kaede had to laugh. Tears streamed down her face but she just continued to giggle. The sound came out choked and breathy, her voice strained from the rope tied around her neck, but she laughed nonetheless. How wrong she had been.

Love wasn’t dancing at prom, sniffing red roses, or stargazing. Love wasn’t cuddling in front of a fire, climbing trees, or getting tangled up in a dog leash. Love was much harsher, a sort of game that she had no chance of winning from day one.

When she glanced down her hands, all she could see was blood. Dripping down her palm to her fingertips, splattering on the abnormally large piano keys. If she stared hard enough, she could almost see a shot put ball, too, sitting innocently in her hand.

A weapon was nothing without a wielder. Kaede shouldn’t have been afraid of the knives in the kitchen or the dagger she had found tucked away in the storage room. Rather, she should have been afraid of herself and all the damage she could do. The noose tightening around her neck stood as a reminder of this, forcing her to look back on the things she’d done and ask herself, _was this really the right decision?_

Never in her life had she thought this was where she’d end up, hanging from a rope and playing a twisted version of the song she had once loved. The universe really loved to be cruel, didn’t it?

*＊✿❀○❀✿＊*

When she first met Rantaro, _really_ met Rantaro, she was investigating the classroom that she had woken up in. It was odd, the way she didn’t remember being stuffed into a locker. On top of that, she couldn’t remember ever being knocked out, either.

Nothing seemed different than it had been just a few hours ago. Books sat on the desks in neat order, lockers remained sitting upright in the corner, a monitor was hung up on the whiteboard. It wasn’t as if she had expected something entirely different, but she hadn’t expected everything to be in place, either. Where the hell was she?

Just as she was about to try her hand at pulling the seals on the window off, there was a knock on the door. “Is somebody there?” A voice called from the other side, tone polite.

“You can come in,” Kaede said instead of answering the question, still trying to shove the window open to no avail. There was a creak from behind her and then footsteps that kept on sounding until the visitor was standing directly beside her.

The visitor laughed, his voice like a melody that Kaede never could play. She turned around upon hearing him speak, only to see Rantaro standing there, looking at her softly. “I don’t think that’s going to work. The seals are on there pretty tightly, although I don’t know why. We have access to the courtyard, after all, so what could be hidden behind these windows?”

Kaede stared at him for a moment, bewildered, and then nodded, crossing her arms. “If we put enough pressure on it, maybe we could snap it off!” She insisted, her cheeks puffed out. For all they knew, this window could be the key to escaping from Monokuma’s deadly game! As such, she decided she had to get it open, no matter the cost.

Rantaro sighed and then nodded, raising his arms so he could grip onto the seal. “Well, then, let’s pull on the count of three,” he said, tugging on it just a bit. Maybe to prove a point, maybe just because he was testing how harshly it was stuck on.

Kaede clenched her fists around the side of the window so tightly her knuckles went white, but still didn’t relent. “One,” she began counting, eyes fixed onto the seal. “Two, three,” after she reached three, she put all her weight onto the heels of her feet and pulled, trying her best to tear it off. Rantaro did the same thing, bringing his elbows all the way back as he tried to take it off.

Eventually, Kaede sighed and gave up, arms falling to her sides. “I guess you were right,” she finally said, huffing.

Rantaro nodded as he took a step back and kicked out a chair. “That doesn’t mean you weren’t right, too,” he said, sitting down. “I think the seal could be a huge hint. I mean, why else would the view be obscured if it didn’t have a reason to be?”

Kaede brightened at the semi-praise, clapping her hands together excitedly. “Right?” She exclaimed, sitting down across from him. “Does Monokuma think we’re dumb or something?”

“He probably hopes we are,” Rantaro joked. Briefly, Kaede studied the way he smiled. More than anything else, his small smirk felt like a shield; it made her feel like she was being locked out of a room that she really wanted to get into, left helpless and in the cold.

In that moment, she became determined to knock down the walls he had built around himself. She wanted to be friends with everyone there, and even better ones when they escaped all of this mess, so who better to start with but Rantaro?

“Hey,” she broke the silence that they had fallen into, her fingers intertwined on top of the desk. “Do you have any idea what your talent could be?”

Upon being asked the question, Rantaro’s bright eyes noticeably dimmed, a frown taking form on his face. “Who knows,” he stated more than asked, shrugging. “Maybe I don’t have one.”

“Then why would you be here with us?” Kaede argued. While she waited for him to respond, she blew a strand of hair off her nose in an attempt to get a better look at him.

“It could be a mistake,” Rantaro replied, eyes not leaving her for a second. _He’s really intense when he’s troubled,_ she realized, her hand twitching. Nevertheless, no matter how unapproachable he made the topic seem, she completely ignored the red flags and kept on going.

“I doubt it,” she said, kicking one leg over the other. “If Monokuma is smart enough to set up a horrific plan like this, he’s probably not dumb enough to pick up an extra student on accident.”

Rantaro glanced down at the ground, a look of hesitation taking over him, before he glanced back up at her and smiled. It still looked forced, but even so, Kaede felt a rush of pride overtake her at the idea that she managed to cheer him up, even if just by a little. “Thanks, Kaede. You’re a really good person, you know?”

She just smiled back at him. “People tend to tell me that.” She decided to choose her words carefully, wary of giving off the wrong idea. It wasn’t like she was a mean person; Mom had told her to treat others how she would like to be treated, and Kaede had taken those words to heart. She just wasn’t as kind a person as everyone liked to think she was. Kokichi had said so himself, back when they were all doing the Death Road of Despair. She was oblivious and often thought more about the results than the effort it took to get there.

“I don’t doubt it,” Rantaro said, although his eyes looked a bit more conflicted than they had been before she had replied, as if he was torn between saying something and ignoring it all together. Finally, it seemed that he decided against continuing, as he just stood up and stretched. “Well, I’ll be going now. We’ll be seeing each other again soon, I hope?”

Kaede nodded, smiling. “That’s something _I_ don’t doubt,” she repeated his own words back to him. “Let’s get tea together next time, okay?”

“Sounds good,” Rantaro agreed before standing up and leaving the classroom. He waved without turning around as he disappeared out the classroom entrance, footsteps soon fading into nothing.

Kaede sighed when she was sure she was alone, falling face-first into the desk. Investigations were tiring, even for someone as determined to help as her. How Shuichi did it, she wasn’t sure.

_I swear we’ll get out of this place,_ she promised to no one in particular, not looking up. _We can’t lose now, not when we each have a whole future ahead of us. And I’ll help Rantaro find his talent, too. He deserves that much._

With that laid out on the table, she stood back up. Her chair crashed to the ground unceremoniously but she ignored it, instead opting to walk towards the back of the room and search through the full bookshelves. There was a lot of work to be done.

*＊✿❀○❀✿＊*

Nothing cleared Kaede’s mind more like playing the piano. Chords and keys mixing together to create perfect melodies was what she lived for; with every song she learned, her headache eased and her shoulders relaxed. Yes, there was nothing better than this.

Very little could distract her when she played her instrument. Back when she was a child, her mom could sit down directly next to her and she wouldn’t feel a thing. She always assumed it was an ultimate thing. Kaede’s mom, on the other hand, told her, “It’s a Kaede thing,” with the warmest smile.

That was why she wanted to escape. Without Mom, her life was just cold, lacking any of the sunny days she was used to. _Now if I could only find out why I was put here in the first place._

“You’re really good,” a familiar voice said from behind her, breaking Kaede out of her stupor.

“Rantaro,” she greeted, a smile on her face. Said Rantaro moved to put a plate of food on the top of her piano. “Wow, Kirumi really goes all out!” She exclaimed, closing the piano up and placing the plate directly in front of her.

“I agree,” he said, sitting down in a chair to the side. “She really needs to take a break.”

“Still! We shouldn’t complain,” Kaede said, digging in immediately. She had never been a religious person, even when she was young. None of her family was. Still, there was no time better to pray than when one is in the middle of a killing game, so she clapped her hands together and thanked whoever was watching for the food, anyways.

“I guess you’re right,” he relented. “So, is this where you’ve been all day?”

“Oh, no!” Kaede said between a mouthful of carrots, shaking her head. “Shuichi and I have been investigating the school. He went to the basement by himself, though I’m not sure why.”

“He seems oddly secretive about the conclusions he draws,” Rantaro added, all the while reaching for a CD. “Maybe something happened before the killing game?”

“That’s it!” Kaede said, stabbing a potato. “He’s probably worried about what I’ll think. Well, that sucks, since I really want to know what he has to say.”

Rantaro nodded, not looking up from the CD case. “I think we all do. His expertise would be really helpful, especially in this kind of situation.”

“I agree with that.” They were silent for a little bit, and then Kaede asked, “what do you think about the time limit motive Monokuma placed?”

This time, he did look up, his expression conflicted. “I have no doubt he’s telling the truth. We’ve seen what he’s capable of,” Rantaro answered, his brows furrowed. “Still, why would he put in the effort to bring all of us together if he’s just planning on killing us? It doesn’t make any sense.”

“We’ve been kidnapped by a mechanical bear and his children,” Kaede deadpanned. “Nothing about this makes sense.” Rantaro laughed at that, his posture relaxing. _It wasn’t a joke,_ she thought but didn’t say, not wanting to interrupt his momentary happiness.

“You have a point,” he said, his eyes wrinkling at the corners. For reasons Kaede couldn’t explain, she found herself unable to tear her gaze away, even when his grin faded away and he went back to reading over the CDs on her music shelf. It was like in those books her Mom gave her so long ago, with the heroine falling long and hard for the prince.

_Out of all the places in the world,_ she thought, _why did it have to be here that we met?_

*＊✿❀○❀✿＊*

“Okay, before I say anything else, I want you to promise you’ll keep this a secret.” Shuichi’s voice was hushed as he spoke, hat low enough to completely obscure everything except the tight line his lips had formed and foot tapping on the ground anxiously. _Just what did he find?_ Kaede wondered, curiosity itching at her.

“Got it,” she agreed, desperate for him to just tell her already. What he had to say must have been important, based off of how mysterious he was being about it. Plus, he was a detective! Everything he did must have some kind of reasoning behind it. Upon hearing her concur, he smiled and eased his shoulders.

Like a great detective, he began to explain in exacting detail, “this library has books scattered everywhere, even books lying on _top_ of the bookcases. But take a look at this bookshelf; it’s the only one without books on top of it.”

Kaede twisted her head to follow his gaze and scanned the shelf he was referring to, taking in the details that she had missed the first few times she went in there. “That one? Oh, I guess you’re right.” _But I don’t know how that has to do with anything._

“Also, you can see that the floor in front of the bookcase has intricate markings,” Shuichi continued, pointing at the bumps in the carpet that lay in front of the shelf. Her eyes widened as she leaned down and touched over the floor, eyebrows furrowed.

“You’re right. What is this?”

“I noticed the markings the first time I came in here with you,” Shuichi said, his head tilted. _Of course he did._ “This morning, I came back to investigate. That’s when I found this,” he then walked over to the bookcase and squeezed his hand inside the gap between shelves, gaze calculated. As the shelf started moving, Kaede stood up and stumbled away, only narrowly missing getting crushed by the moving case. Next thing she knew, the bookrack had been moved to the side and in its place was a metal door.

“Woah, it moved?” She gasped, leaning forward and putting her hands on her hips.

“It swings open, and look at the door behind it,” Shuichi said, leading her to stand directly in front of it.

“Hey, do you think this door is connected to Monokuma somehow?” She asked, noting the black and white colors on the hidden passage that resembled the murder bear’s fur.

Shuichi put a hand over his mouth, eyes narrowed. “I think it might, but I’m not sure. This door has a card reader lock, so I can’t open it.”

“You can’t?” Kaede asked intelligently, not looking away from the door for a second.

Shuichi ignored the question, just as she had assumed he would, and pulled his hat upwards just a bit, most likely trying to get a better look. “But the very fact this door is here makes me consider a certain _possibility_. There’s a chance that one of us here is cooperating with Monokuma.”

Kaede finally looked back at him, her jaw dropped at the idea. “Huh? Cooperating with Monokuma? Wait a minute, what do you mean by that?”

“It’s only a hypothesis right now, but consider this,” Shuichi said, “why would there be a hidden door here? If it were solely for Monokuma’s use, he wouldn’t need to hide it, since he could just have the Monokubs or the exisals protect it and keep it in plain sight. However, I can think of one reason why the door would be hidden.

“For one of us to sneak in and use it, without anyone else using it.” In a twisted way, this had to be the most Shuichi had spoken since they woke up in the school, as if his interest was only piqued by gruesome cases like this. Even though Kaede knew that couldn’t be true, he wasn’t like that, it still made a shiver run down her spine.

Unfortunately, he had a point. “Maybe, but I can’t believe someone in our group could be working with Monokuma.”

“I can’t believe it either. That’s why in order to confirm my suspicions, I decided to set a little trap on this card reader when I first found it. I put dust on the reader so if somebody were to use it, we would know.”

Kaede figured out what he was implying before he even had to say it, her hand going up to grip her heart. “There’s no dust on this,” she said, realization taking over her body all at once.

Shuichi frowned but continued talking, his voice confident despite his awkward posture, “somebody’s working with Monokuma. A mastermind if you will.”

Kaede felt like her whole world was crumbling into dust, cracking apart and blurring until she couldn’t see what was right and what was wrong. All she knew was one thing; she was wrong when she said they would all escape together.

Somehow, although she wasn’t sure why, Kaede knew the mastermind wouldn’t let them leave so easily. It didn’t matter how many times they punched Monokuma into a wall, banged on the glass dome separating them from the real world, or attempted to find a door, the mastermind would always find a way to draw them back in.

When Shuichi proposed a plan to discover the mastermind’s true identity, Kaede agreed without thinking about the consequences because truly, what choice did she have?

*＊✿❀○❀✿＊*

“You couldn’t sleep either?” Kaede jolted where she was standing and flipped around to face the intruder. Standing at the entrance of the kitchen was Rantaro, holding two cups and looking terribly exhausted.

Kaede relaxed at the sight, her shoulders drooping. “Yeah,” she replied, flopping back down onto the floor. Not even the cold could keep her from curling up on the ground. If anything, it only tempted her to lay down, because at least it stood as a reminder that she was still alive.

Rantaro clearly didn’t care either, seeing as he sat down right next to her with minimal flinching and popped open a soda can. “I get how it feels. This place is hell on earth.”

“And yet you don’t sound very worried about that,” Kaede said, trying and failing to make it all sound light-hearted.

He just shrugged in response, taking a long swig of his drink and then saying, “running around in circles won’t get us anywhere. I need to keep a clear head, because if I don’t, who will?”

Kaede sighed, hitting her head on the cabinet behind her. “Tell me about it.”

In the silence that followed, she had a lot of time to think, so think she did. She thought about her life outside the killing game, full of trophies and music notes, she thought about the stack of romance novels on her desk that she had still yet to read, and of course, she thought about whether or not it was even possible to escape anymore.

If her and Shuichi’s plan to discover the mastermind’s true identity _did_ miraculously work, there were still so many questions. _Would it even matter? Would we die anyways? And what if Monokuma is just bluffing, and there’s no point in panicking at all? What do we do, what do we do, what do we–_

And then the solution hit her like a truck, so simple and yet so complicated. It was almost laughable, how she hadn’t thought about it in the beginning. There was no other way to end the killing game, it would be impossible to escape any other way.

She would just have to kill the mastermind first.

*＊✿❀○❀✿＊*

Just when she thought her momentary guilt was over, she just _had_ to run straight into Rantaro of all people. “Kaede!” He exclaimed, a polite smile on his face. “Sorry about that, I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

_First names, huh?_ “It’s fine,” she promised, trying her best to replicate his smile on her own face. The shot put ball in her bag felt like it was weighing her down, and for a second she almost considered snapping and telling him everything.

But that would ruin everything, so she didn’t. “I was trying to find you, though,” he continued, his head tilted. “Do you want to go get tea later? I like to think that I’m pretty good with jasmine.”

Kaede’s blood ran cold. Did he know? Was he planning on convincing her to stop her plan? _That’s ridiculous, how would he know?_ But the hammering in her chest didn’t stop, and neither did the quivering of her hand, and neither did the sweat that had begun to run down her forehead. Still, if there was a chance he really just wanted to spend some time together, she wasn’t going to turn that offer down, no matter how much it hurt.

Before she could say anything, however, Shuichi called, “Kaede, we need to get going before Miu changes her mind.” He sounded frantic at that point, as if he really thought the inventor would up and turn tail if they were just a few minutes too late. _I wouldn’t be surprised if she really did._ So, she just nodded at Rantaro apologetically.

“After I finish this, let’s meet up in the cafeteria, okay? I’ll take your word for it!”

Rantaro glanced behind her, one eyebrow raised in confusion, but agreed nonetheless, the smile never leaving his face, although it did look a bit more forced than before. “You better,” he said before turning around and making his way into the storage room. “See you later, Kaede.”

Kaede was already following Shuichi when she called back, “talk to you later, Rantaro!”

*＊✿❀○❀✿＊*

“Woah,” Kaede mumbled to herself, leaning off the edge of her ladder and staring down at the ground. “Now that I’m up here, this is pretty high. It’s kinda scary…” _Just keep up the innocent, optimistic pianist act,_ she reminded herself, plastering on a worried expression. _He won’t understand if I tell him what I’m doing. It’s best to leave him out of it._

From the moment she had spotted the vent, she knew that she’d found her saving grace. All that was left now was to set everything up, although that was easier said than done with Shuichi mimicking her every move. “Do you want to switch?” Said detective asked, only raising his voice just enough for her to hear him. At the sound of his genuinely worried voice, a pang of guilt shot through her, reminding Kaede of just what her plan entailed.

Still, she wasn’t going to give up then, not when she was so close to victory. “Nah, I’m fine,” she replied, turning back around and putting her hand up to the metal lid, feeling around for a latch. “Ah, there we go!” She yelped as the grate clattered to the side, leaving just enough space for a hand to go through. _And a shot put ball._

“Did you break something, Kaede?” Shuichi asked, sounding more curious than accusing. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she looked back at him, shaking her head. _Does he know what I’m doing? Will he stop me if he does? Is it even possible to get away with this?_

“Um, no, I didn’t break it,” she answered, hovering the toe of her shoe off the ladder hesitantly. If she died of the fall, would Shuichi be counted as the blackened? Would the killing game still begin, even if it was an accident? Her mind was running a mile a minute, trying desperately to distract her from the task at hand.

“So, how’s it look? Could a person fit through there?” Shuichi asked, still gung-ho about the original plan. _Of course he is,_ Kaede fought off a grimace, _he doesn’t know any better._

“It would be pretty difficult, but you might be able to squeeze through here,” she lied awkwardly, still stretching her arm through the gap to see if it closed off at any point. To her relief, it didn’t. “I can’t really get into this vent with all the books in the way, though.”

“Well, we’ll be able to see the entrance of the vent from the classroom,” Shuichi dismissed. “So that should be okay, right?”

“Just in case, I’ll stack more books around the vent so no one can get through,” Kaede said, trying to flit around the topic at hand. It would just be embarrassing if her plan failed after all this work, so she got to work immediately, setting up piles of books like a staircase, leading all the way to where she would soon put her camera.

As she stacked, however, she couldn’t help but notice the lack of romance novels. Most of the books there were murder mysteries and shonen manga, none of the things that she was used to. It was weird, in a way, to see a shelf without even one poem, without a single book of songs. _What even is this place?_ Just as she was about to give up on searching and continue her work, she noticed one story that looked nothing like the rest, hot pink and tiny.

Interest piqued, she picked it up and flipped to the front, running her finger under the kanji experimentally. _Romeo and Juliet._ Despite her best efforts, she snorted at the implications, rolling her eyes. Of _course_ the only romance book Monokuma put out would be one that ended in tragedy.

_Jokes on you, killer bear,_ she thought, smiling smugly, _I won’t be like them. I’ll succeed, and get all of us out of here. Just you wait._

And then maybe, just maybe, she and Rantaro would get their happy ever after, too.

*＊✿❀○❀✿＊*

Even with her busy schedule, Kaede couldn’t say no to Rantaro’s sheepish smile, so there she was, sitting out in the courtyard and shoving spoonful after spoonful of soup into her mouth. A hush had fallen over the both of them, one that she’d begun to get used to while spending time with the mysterious boy, and unlike usual, she decided to bask in the quiet, grateful for the slightest bit of calm.

Across the field, she could see a group of the other students standing around, completely unaware of the severity of their situation, and for a moment, all she could feel was jealousy. Why should they get to enjoy peaceful lives when so many other people like herself were struggling just to give them a chance? It wasn’t fair. And accompanying that emotion was guilt, causing her to shrink in on herself and stare at the ground in mock defeat. _What has Monokuma done to me?_

“Are you doing okay? You’ve been oddly quiet,” a voice broke through their momentary silence, tinged with a mix of concern and curiosity. Kaede whipped her head up at the question, eyes wide.

“Yeah, I’m fine!” She lied, forcing a smile onto her face. “Or, I mean, as well as we can be in this situation. I’m just trying to make the most of this afternoon! Isn’t it beautiful?”

Rantaro frowned at her, his eyebrows pinched together, but he seemed to get the memo nonetheless, as he looked away from her to watch the view instead. “I guess so,” he said, “but it’d be nicer if we weren’t stuck in this school, wouldn’t it?”

“Don’t think like that,” Kaede scoffed, setting her lunch down on the fountain. “Even if we don’t know where we are, the sun rises and falls in the same way! That’s enough, right?”

Rantaro laughed quietly, leaning back on his hands. The salad Kirumi had given him lay untouched by his side. “You sure do think positively.”

“Someone has to,” she shrugged, crossing her arms and digging her heels into the dirt. It wasn’t like it was a lie; to her, it didn’t matter where they were or what they would be forced into next. As long as they remained hopeful, things would turn out. She was sure of it.

In the quiet that fell after that, Kaede allowed her head to fall onto Rantaro’s shoulder, her eyes shutting. The action felt oddly familiar, as if they’d done it a million times before, despite them only having met a few days ago. _Funny how these things go._

“I’m kind of jealous of you,” Rantaro finally admitted, his voice barely a whisper. “You’re just so happy all the time.”

“You seem pretty calm, though, too?” Kaede pointed out, still not straightening up. She stretched her legs out in front of her as they spoke, fully prepared to take a well-deserved nap right then and there.

She felt rather than saw Rantaro shake his head, a broken laugh falling from his lips. “Yeah,” was all he said, shoulders quivering. “But sometimes I wish I wasn’t.”

They didn’t speak again after that, too absorbed in their own worlds to give any thought the time of day, and for once, Kaede let herself enjoy the mute atmosphere. In that moment, there was no doubt in her mind that they would be together for the rest of their lives. It was cheesy, and maybe a bit childish, but she couldn’t think of herself with anyone else. He was like the princes she used to read about in manga, kind and generous. _I’ve come too far to lose my nerve now._

*＊✿❀○❀✿＊*

Being in a killing game is more draining than Kaede has ever done, and the murders hadn’t even started yet; to say she was exhausted would be an understatement. And yet there she was at what she assumed to be midnight, staring up at her ceiling and struggling to do something as simple as fall asleep.

It wasn’t the first time she’d stayed up late, of course. When she was young, Kaede often played piano all the way until the sun peeked over the horizon and her dad got up for work, after which she’d jump in her blankets and hope nobody heard her. This type of insomnia, however, was different. Rather than calm and tranquility, all she could feel was terror, the kind of horror that seeped into her skin and reminded her of all the things she’d done wrong and all the wrong things she was yet to do.

What if there was no mastermind? That was the thought that ran through her mind the most, making her reconsider everything she had once been confident in. If she was wrong, and her plan resulted in nothing, what would happen then? Would they all die? If they did, it would be her who would take the blame; after all, she was the one to promise everyone that they’d escape.

 _How naïve_. She twisted around so she was laying on her stomach, a frown replacing the usual optimistic grin. _Well,_ she thought, _it’s too late to give up now, so I won’t._

She would keep going, no matter what the consequences may be, because even if the chances of succession were only two percent, there was still a possibility. She’d grasp onto that hope, ignorant to whatever her peers said, because that was the kind of person she was. _We’ll leave this place, and become even better friends afterwards,_ she promised, curling her hands into fists. All that was left to do now was wait.

*＊✿❀○❀✿＊*

_Geez, things are always off the walls around here,_ Kaede thought as she slapped her palms over her ears and directed her gaze anywhere _but_ the monitor screen. Seriously, could Monokuma have made the video any more annoying? “What is this weird music? Is it coming from that monitor?” She yelled over the sound.

Shuichi grimaced, tugging his hat even farther over his ears. Their moment of joy had been interrupted so easily, like slicing through cake. _Or a dead body._ “Maybe it’s a warning that we need to start killing, since the time limit is almost up.”

“They need to stop screwing with us! How much suffering do they want from us?” She demanded, legs shaking. But still, if there was anything good about that horrific display, it was that it succeeded in distracting her from the task at hand. At least, it did until her vision was overtaken by a new scene; a group of people were walking down the hallway and towards the stairs in a cluster.

Shuichi seemed to have the same idea, seeing as he went to stand by her and peek out the door, too. “Kaito, Gonta, Maki, Tenko, Angie, Himiko, and… and Rantaro, too?” She said aloud, eyes narrowed.

“What’s a big group like that planning to do?” Shuichi asked more to himself than her, his hand finding its way to his chin. _Didn’t Rantaro say he was planning on ending the killing game?_ She thought, recalling what he had said a few days ago, back when they were hanging out. _Is this how he plans on doing it?_

“It’s almost night time, right? If they’re all heading to the basement right now, could the mastermind be with them right now?” _Is this it? Is this how my plan comes to an end?_

“It’s unusual for such a big group to go to the basement,” Shuichi commented carefully. “They’re not planning on going to the library, right? That would be bad… They’ll scare the mastermind away from the library and throw everything off.”

“Huh?” Kaede yelped, feeling more worried than she had since waking up in that locker.

“I’m going to check out the basement!” Shuichi declared, tilting his hat up and beginning to shove the door all the way open.

“I’ll come with you,” she insisted without intention.

“No, you stay and keep watch, Kaede,” he replied wildly, already halfway out the door. To her relief, he obviously wasn’t taking no for an answer. With that, she was safe to prepare herself for what she was about to do. _It all comes down to this. This is where I finally make my move._

Nothing could get in her way now.

*＊✿❀○❀✿＊*

Kaede had no heart. She had no mind, she had no soul, she had no brain. There had to be no room in her chest for love, because if there was, why would this be the first thing she saw when she walked into that library?

Rantaro was nothing more than a shell by the time she found him, having been hit cold by a shot put ball. _Her_ shot put ball. _Why did it have to turn out like this? Where did it go so wrong?_

This wasn’t what she wanted, nor planned, but at that point, it was too late to turn around undo her mistakes. His blood was on her hands, and there was nothing she could do about it.

_Damn this killing game. Damn romance novels. Damn hope._

No happy ending waited for either of them, she was sure of that now. She might as well just turn herself in right then and there.

_Oh, Rantaro,_ Kaede thought, falling to her knees in shock that wasn’t as fake as she had hoped it would be. _Don’t do this to me now._

*＊✿❀○❀✿＊*

Investigations went as well as she assumed they would. She spent most of it trailing behind Shuichi, pointing out minimal evidence, and trying her best to act as innocent as possible, all the while wondering what she was supposed to do. Should she turn herself in? Should she escape? What was right, what was wrong?

All Kaede knew was that she didn’t want anybody else to die, and she would make sure they survived, no matter what it took. With a deep breath, she steeled her nerves and followed along, shoes tapping on the ground in an irritating rhythm.

She knew what had to be done.

*＊✿❀○❀✿＊*

Even as the rest of her classmates flailed and yelled amongst themselves, Kaede forced herself to remain calm. “There has to be something else we can discuss, we’ve just gotta think,” she insisted over everybody’s chatter, fighting to keep her voice steady. This was it, this was the trial that would decide her fate, and yet here she was, throwing away her only chance of life just for a class she’d met just a few days ago.

_Would Rantaro be proud?_ She wondered, gripping her podium so hard her knuckles went white. It didn’t matter, not anymore, not when he was nothing more than a corpse on the ground. “Right, Shuichi?” Upon hearing his voice, the detective jolted, his hat nearly falling off.

“Huh?” He asked. His shoulders were shaking and his voice wasn’t any better off, but she had faith in him; he would step up in the end, she just knew it. And then, Kaede could rest knowing her friends would be safe.

“Shuichi, even though you’re not the culprit, you’ve been quiet for a while.” She picked her words carefully, afraid of making a mistake or giving herself away too soon. This wasn’t her fight, not really, not anymore. Now, it was Shuichi’s. “It’s because you realized something huh?”

He knew. _He knew what she did, he knew who she was, he knew of her crimes,_ and yet she wasn’t scared at all. Rather, Kaede felt only relief, grateful that she didn’t have to worry about what would come after her. “You’re scared to reveal the **truth**.”

Shuichi startled, his once-shaky hand stopping in its movements all together. Luckily for her, his reaction only stood as proof of what she’d already discovered. “I thought so,” she said, nodding her head just slightly. “Shuichi, answer me this… Just what kind of **truth** did you realize? Don’t be scared to say it, not just for me, but for everyone here,” she reigned in her emotions, trying not to let how desperate she was show on her face as she said, “please face the **truth**.”

Shuichi stared at her hesitantly, his face unchanging, and then he finally sighed and said, “the picture.”

“Picture?” Kirumi repeated, her hands laced in front of her. She looked so serious and composed compared to everyone else; in a way, Kaede was jealous of how she kept her cool so easily.

“The picture from the camera aimed at the hidden door, just before the murder,” Shuichi confirmed, his voice cracking every other word. “I always thought it was suspicious, the way Rantaro was acting.”

“Hmmm?” Angie broke in, leaning over the podium like a curious child would peek at a candy bowl. “What’s suspicious?”

“If you look at the picture, it seems like Rantaro was trying to remove the camera, but that must mean he noticed the camera was set up.”

Tenko scowled as she said, “that’s true, but when did he notice it?”

“I believe it was when the camera took its first picture,” Shuichi answered, his gaze hard. If Kaede didn’t see the way he twiddled with his hands, she would have believed he was fully confident in what he was saying. Then, he held out another processed photo. “This picture was taken when Rantaro moved the bookcase. At that moment, something made him notice the camera, so he tried to remove it, and that’s when the bookcase closed. The sensor was triggered, and that was when this picture was taken.”

“If that is the case, we must find the reason why he noticed the camera,” Kirumi said, eloquent as ever.

“You’re confusing everyone!” Miu yapped, pointing at him accusingly, and then added, “except me, of course. Just get to the fuckin’ point!” Kaede would have gotten irritated at her less-than-pleasant way of speaking if she didn’t have worse things to worry about.

“I’ve been contemplating what it could be. Why did he notice the camera? And the answer is… in this picture,” Shuichi held up the original photo once again, his face scarily serious. _I see, Shuichi knows. The reason why Rantaro noticed the camera was because…_

She didn’t even have to think about it before saying, “because of the flash, right?”

“Nyeh?” Himiko finally piped up, tapping her chin with an index finger. “The flash?”

“Yes. The flash went off when the hidden door camera took a photo,” Shuichi confirmed. “Rantaro noticed the camera’s flash.”

Tenko tapped her fingers together, eyes flicking between the three speakers. “But how did you know the camera’s flash went off?”

“Remember the pictures that we have of me taking down the cameras? If you compare them…” He began to hold each of the photos up one by one, flipping them for everyone to see.

“Woah, the brightness is totally different!” Kaito gasped as if everybody hadn’t already noticed that themselves, his eyes wide.

“Same room, circumstance, and cameras, and yet there is a disparity in brightness,” Kiibo named off. If his expression could change beyond blinking, Kaede was certain his eyebrows would be furrowed and his lip would be jutted out.

“It’s because only the camera at the hidden door had the flash on,” Shuichi explained.

“What was the purpose of leaving the flash on? Especially since it was meant to be hidden,” Kirumi brought up. It was no surprise that she was trying to include herself in the conversation as much as possible; she did say her goal was to serve, after all.

“A mistake, maybe?” Maki spoke up for the first time in a while.

“It’s no mistake. There was definitely an objective here,” Shuichi shot down the idea immediately. “That camera was placed for another reason.”

“Another reason, huh?” Kaede asked, ignoring the way her nerves itched at her, begging her to stop egging him on, to start saving her own ass. Still, she didn’t listen to that part of her mind; there were more important things than her own life. “The flash was used to lure whoever moved the bookcase to the camera,” she mocked guessing, “so when the flash went off, they would have noticed the camera immediately. And that’s exactly what happened.

Rantaro,” she winced at the sound of his name in her own mouth, a grimace overtaking her face without permission. _Why did it have to be him who died?_ “Rantaro moved the bookcase, noticed the flash, and then walked over to the camera, but the culprit didn’t expect the camera to take another photo when the door closed.” Listening to her own plan unfold, even as she was the one saying it, sent a chill down her body. She sounded just like a monster, didn’t she?

“Hey, Kaede?” Kaito began, his face bewildered, “Is something wrong? You’ve been acting kind of strange.”

“Strange?” Kaede asked, her eyebrows pinched together.

“Your last few remarks carry… far more conviction than the rest,” Korekiyo agreed, although he didn’t look concerned as much as interested.

“Do you know who the culprit is?” Tenko demanded, slamming her fists on the podium.

Kaede hesitated and then smiled. “Yup, I know. I’ve known for a long time now.” How could she not?

“Hm? Long time?” Gonta asked.

“Because there was only one person able to set the flash on the camera,” she continued explaining, twirling her hand around as she spoke, “isn’t that right, Shuichi?”

His eyes lit up in understanding from under the hat, but he still didn’t speak, so she said, “the culprit of this case is…”

_Well, this is as far as it goes,_ she thought, not tearing her eyes away from the detective for a second. _I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t get to the mastermind. And on top of that, I killed the one person I loved. Maybe this is what true despair feels like. I’m sorry everyone. I’m sorry Rantaro. I’m sorry Shuichi._

He stayed silent that whole time because he knew, she was sure of it, but that had to end now. There was no use keeping up an act of ignorance, not when it would cost his own life. It may be the end, but that didn’t mean everything would be over. Shuichi would carry on her wish, and along with that, her passion. From then on, he would be the one protecting everyone, and he would do great, she was sure of it.

Shuichi sighed, scanning her face. Apparently, he didn’t find what he was looking for, because the frown on his face only grew deeper, but nevertheless, he raised his voice. “Kaede is the culprit.”

Kaede closed her eyes and finally, finally, allowed her friend to take the reins. _I’ll see you again soon, Rantaro,_ she thought, smiling, _and then I’ll get to apologize. That’s a promise._

_Good luck, Shuichi Saihara._

*＊✿❀○❀✿＊*

_That was a bold move, Akamatsu._

Tsumugi watched from her podium as the once optimistic leader was hoisted into the air with a rope, sent to dance across a blood-splattered piano in a rhythm-lacking show. From all around her, the survivors trembled and wailed, unable to tear their gazes away from the “blackened”.

It was funny in a twisted kind of way, how Kaede died thinking she killed the one she loved. Viewers would eat that one up for sure.

Guilt didn’t drip from her fingers, second thoughts didn’t flood her mind. As she summoned her fake tears and watched the scene unfold in mock-horror, only one thought flashed; _thank you._

If it weren’t for Kaede, she’d be forced to scrap together a whole new cast in a matter of only days, unable to go on with a bunch of dead corpses. So, as such, the mastermind was very grateful.

_Thank you for your sacrifices, Kaede and Rantaro. Don’t worry, your deaths won’t be in vain._

_The production team will make sure of that._

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed the fic! I’m not going to lie, I procrastinated a lot while writing it, but I’m happy with how it turned out, and I hope you are, too! Please leave a comment (and kudos) if possible, it really encourages me.
> 
> My tumblr is xxxbookaholic if you're interested. I normally post A3! Actors and DRV3. 
> 
> Have a nice rest of your day/night!


End file.
